The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in two of three sessions since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 350 points or 5.1 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange settled just above the 7,090-point plateau, and now analysts are expecting the market to remain in that neighborhood at the opening of trade on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat, bereft of any leads from the United States or Europe - which were closed for the Christmas holiday. Trade is expected to remain thin ahead of New Year's Day, with some of the markets possibly getting a boost from their first chance to react to some positive economic news from the U.S. The Asian markets are expected to hold a fairly tight range in mixed fashion.
The TSE finished slightly lower on Monday as losses from the finance, food and technology sectors were offset by gains from the construction and textile stocks.
For the day, the index eased 18.15 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 7,092.58 after trading between 7,125.67 and 7,078.06 on turnover of 65.02 billion Taiwan dollars. There were 2,197 decliners and 1,277 gainers, with 524 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the gainers, Shining Building Business, Radium Life Tech, Prince Housing and Development and Kindom Construction all surged by the daily maximum of 7 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is stale, although several of the regional bourses are only now returning to action following the Christmas holiday. Stocks moved higher on Friday following some mixed economic data, adding to the recent optimism about the economic outlook.
The Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders surged up by 3.8 percent in November after coming in nearly unchanged in October. Economists had expected orders to increase by 1.9 percent. A separate report showed that personal income increased by 0.1 percent in November, while personal spending also edged up by 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department also said that new home sales came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000 in November, a 1.6 percent increase from the revised October rate of 310,000. With the increase, the annual rate of sales in November was roughly in line with the 314,000 most economists had predicted.
News that House Republicans agreed to approve a two-month extension of the payroll tax cuts may have also contributed to the strength among stocks. President Barack Obama signed the legislation Friday afternoon, preventing the tax cuts from expiring at the end of the year.
For the day, the Dow surged 124.35 points or 1 percent to 12,294.00, while the NASDAQ rose 19.19 points or 0.7 percent to 2,618.64 and the S&P 500 advanced 11.33 points or 0.9 percent to 1,265.33. For the week, the Dow ended the session at a nearly five-month closing high. For the week, the NASDAQ rose by 2.5 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 jumped by 3.6 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively.
The major European markets also moved to the upside over the course of the trading day. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both closed up by 1 percent.
In economic news, Taiwan will on Tuesday provide its leading index for November. Little change is expected from the October reading that showed a 0.2 percent monthly contraction.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.